Dangerous Dogs (555A/23)
Request
For the period 1st January 2022 to the 31st December 2022 please supply the following information;
1) How many dogs were seized in connection with the Dangerous Dogs Act 1991?
2) How many dogs died unexpectedly whilst in the custody of West Midlands Police?
3) How many dogs whilst in the custody of West Midlands Police became ill and were subsequently euthanised on veterinary advice in accordance with the Animal Welfare Act 2006?
4) How many of the dogs that died subject to (2) and (3) above were sent for veterinary forensic post-mortem?
5) On the occasions that a veterinary forensic post-mortem was conducted were the results given to the owners of the said dogs?
6) If a seized dog becomes ill whilst in your care, do you a) inform the owner immediately, b) inform the owner after veterinary treatment, c) do not inform the owner at all?
Policy
7) Is it the policy of West Midlands Police to supply the owner of a seized dog with a copy of the veterinary records and kennel records (business names redacted) when their dog is returned to them?
Response
Our data are not organised in such a way as to allow us to provide this information within the appropriate (cost) limit within the Freedom of Information (FOI) Act (see ‘Reason for Decision’ below).
Although excess cost removes the force’s obligations under the Freedom of Information Act, as a gesture of goodwill I have supplied information, relative to your request, retrieved before it was realised that the fees limit would be exceeded (see enclosed). I trust this is helpful, but it does not affect our legal right to rely on the fee’s regulations for the remainder of the request.
For the period 1st January 2022 to the 31st December 2022 please supply the following information;
1)How many dogs were seized in connection with the Dangerous Dogs Act 1991?
1033 dogs were “encountered” by WMP dog unit staff following reports of varying nature and recorded on case dogs, not all of these were seized.
With regard to question 1, although we have been able to locate and retrieve the number of dogs ‘encountered’ by dog handlers at reports of dogs being out of control, in order to determine how many were seized and dangerously out of control, we would need to manually review each of the aforementioned cases. This however would require the examination of 1033 cases and such a search would exceed the appropriate limit (FOIA, s.12).
2) How many dogs died unexpectedly whilst in the custody of West Midlands Police?
This information is not held in a retrievable format.
To search for this information would exceed the 18-hour exemption, to search through each record. 2 minutes to search through each record x 1033 records = 34.343333 hours.
We are aware however, of one incident where a dog died unexpectedly overnight in kennels from a gastric torsion.
3) How many dogs whilst in the custody of West Midlands Police became ill and were subsequently euthanised on veterinary advice in accordance with the Animal Welfare Act 2006?
Our database is not set up to search for this information. To search for this information would exceed the 18-hour exemption, to search through each record. 2 minutes to search through each record x 1033 records = 34.343333 hours.
4) How many of the dogs that died subject to (2) and (3) above were sent for veterinary forensic post-mortem?
One
5) On the occasions that a veterinary forensic post-mortem was conducted were the results given to the owners of the said dogs?
Details were provided to the owner.
6) If a seized dog becomes ill whilst in your care, do you a) inform the owner immediately, b) inform the owner after veterinary treatment, c) do not inform the owner at all?
Policy. – There is no policy on this area of work. Each case is different depending on which kennel the dog is with and their veterinary process, and dealt with depending on the circumstances.
7) Is it the policy of West Midlands Police to supply the owner of a seized dog with a copy of the veterinary records and kennel records (business names redacted) when their dog is returned to them?
No. Kennel records / veterinary notes are not provided as a matter of routine.
Attachments
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